Budget Time is Taxing Time
?
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On 21 Dec , following news appeared :
Hindustan Times
India’s Skewed Tax Base
A handful of people pay the bulk of our
tax
95 % of tax payers pay only 9 % of taxes
in India
Of the “ Total Reported Income “ , Salary Income’s share is only 33.2 %
More than 50 % of income tax collections
in AY 2015-16, came from the top 0.01 % of income tax payers
Business Line
Super rich on the rise : India has
nearly 60,000 crorepatis ( in Assessment Year 2015-16 )
On Feb 01, 2018 , when FM Shri Arun
Jaitleyji rises to present the Central Budget in Lok Sabha , he will be faced
with many ( contradicting ? ) demands :
·
Every Economist ( - whether worth his salt or not ! ) , will advocate lowering of Corporate Tax
·
Ditto with ASSOCHAM – FICCI – CII and every Chamber of Commerce
·
All politicians ( especially those belonging to opposition parties ) ,
are demanding lowering of Personal Income Tax
on individual tax payers
·
Every Minister wants his / her next year’s allocation of funds
raised by 50 %
·
All bureaucrats belonging to Finance Ministry , want to vastly expand
the tax-payer base by casting the net as wide as possible
·
The looming shadow of State Elections in
8 States in 2018 , demands that he introduce , not only a FARMER FRIENDLY budget but , generally , a VOTER BAITING budget ( stop calling it a “ Populist Budget “ ! )
·
Every State Government ( not limited to those states governed by
Opposition Parties only ) , want MUCH BIGGER
SHARE of GST collection ( partially, to write off Farmers’ Loans /
DISCOM losses / 7th Pay Commission / funds
siphoned away by SCAMS , etc )
One can go on and on
Obviously , it is a “ Taxing Times “ for
Shri Jaitleyji !
No matter what he pulls out of his
brief-case , he won’t be able to “ please
everyone “
For the next couple of weeks , he – and
his officers – will be at pains to explain why / how , this was as “ Balanced Budget “ as it can ever be
But , he has an opportunity to silence
his critics – and usher an unprecedented REFORM of far reaching consequences to
growth of our ECONOMY – if he announces :
TOTAL ABOLITION OF
PERSONAL INCOME TAX ( OF COURSE , WITH EFFECT FROM 01 APRIL 2019 )
To know how this take India onto 10 % growth in GDP for the next 10 years , he
might want to read :
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